Local designers of wearable art for women, men and children show their most creative fashions on the WMPG runway on Sunday May 19th, 7pm doors, 8 pm show. To celebrate the Fashion Show's decade anniversary of local design and style, Port City Music Hall has welcomed this event to their stage and is a sponsor for the event.

Artistic Director Cindy Flanders reports that this year's show includes works from new & returning designers. Styles run the spectrum from formal to street. Statement Jewelry pieces, repurposed, upcycled & embellished clothing as well as vintage inspired garments. WMPG's Fashion Show strives to include a wide-ranging and energetic collection of the talent & creativity that is thriving in Maine.

Ms. Flanders is pleased to announce that the Fashion Show will feature live runway music by local artist The Moodiest.

First a huge thanks to everyone who donated to the Spring Begathon. Without all the help from all you wonderful listeners, area businesses, volunteers on the phones and of course the fantastic programmers we wouldn't have had a Spring Begathon! To date more than 800 donors have pledged $44,255! Wow - thank you so much for supporting Community Radio here in Southern Maine! We are still haven't quite reached our goal yet of $50,000 and are still accepting donations. Donations can be made online here on our web page or by calling (207) 780-4424.

WMPG is dedicated to preserving access to the public airwaves for the people of southern Maine, and especially the voices and languages not heard elsewhere on the broadcast dial.

Community radio stations like WMPG, volunteer-run and open to all-- are becoming rarer as the pressure is on for even community radio stations to be focused on homogenous programming and revenue generation.

WMPG is diverse, broad in its content, and serves as a forum for those whose voices aren't heard elsewhere. From live bands, to live interviews, WMPG is how members of our community communicate with our neighbors. WMPG is an important asset to the health of our southern Maine communities.

WMPG belongs to all of us: It's our responsibility to take care of this asset, this unique and precious resource. There are so many ways to get involved, and a few times a year, we ask you to make a financial contribution to WMPG Community Radio and keep it healthy for the sake of community connection, free speech and public access to the public airwaves.

From our humble beginnings more than 40 years ago in a dorm room on the Gorham campus of the University of Southern Maine, WMPG has grown to a broad-reaching, eclectic radio station offering music, public affairs, talk and news programming 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. WMPG's recent power increase now brings our signal from York to Augusta and west to central New Hampshire.

To mail a check directly to us send to:

WMPG Begathon
96 Falmouth St.
Portland, ME 04104

If you are inspired to give a substantial gift to WMPG, please contact Dale Robin Goodman, Development Director at 207 780-4151.

We also would like to thank the following businesses for helping out WMPG during our begathons!

Home Dad Chip Edgar is back on the air with his new public affairs program,
"Time Out," Wednesday afternoons at 1:00.

Named after the somewhat controversial parenting technique (not necessarily endorsed by the producers or WMPG), "Time Out" will provide a brief respite from our daily fear of infectious disease, death by terrorists, gay marriage and the next looming weather pattern with non-commercial commentary, your phone calls, and special guests. Plus, on every program a Time Out will be given to a
deserving adult that may have not had good role modeling as a child.

"If you'd like to". When Lily SanGiovani added these four words to the South Portland High School morning announcement about the morning ritual of the Pledge of Allegiance it created quite a social media storm.

A feature in the Portland Press Herald increased it. On Wednesday, February 25th Eric Poulin interviewed the South Portland High students who created this storm.

The 17th Annual Homelessness Marathon originated from Sarasota, Florida this year and was carried by over 100 community radio stations across the country. It aired on WMPG from 7pm Tuesday, February 17 until 9am the next morning. WMPG has broadcast this program every year and we are proud to present this important program.

The Marathon is held in conjunction with The National Coalition for the Homeless. The Homelessness Marathon's mission is to raise consciousness about homelessness and poverty in America and around the world. This is a national call-in broadcast event.

Congrats to 2015 Cajun Cookin' Challenge Champs, Bintliff's
American Cafe. Bintliff's, soon to be renamed Bayside American Cafe, served a Gumbo with Chicken and Andouille Sausage with Mini Corn Cakes. Tasty!

This year's runner-up was USM's own Aramark/USM Dining who treated us to a delightful Shrimp and Scallop Etouffee with a sip of Sazerac - yes the real stuff.

Want to read our "End Of Year" newsletter? Catch up on the latest WMPG news including features on WMPG winning 3 Maine Association of Broadcaster Awards, WMPG's Kate Manahan and her program New Mainers Speak, our new mission statement, our new web page and much more!

In October, WMPG began airing daily morning news Monday through Friday. Volunteer news anchors now present news breaks at 7 and 8am each day within existing morning music programs. State and local headlines are written and read by the volunteer anchors, and original reports created by WMPG volunteer reporters.

The morning news initiative follows a successful year-long beta-test period duruing which the station aired a half-hour weekly news roundup program hosted by volunteer News Director Sam Bullock.

In the spirit of community collaboration, WMPG seeks to partner with as many existing local news organizations as possible. The station has also created a new separate training track to empower citizen journalists.

"Our goal is to build a volunteer-powered news department which becomes a trusted source of journalism WMPG style: quirky, smart, and hyper-local," says Program Director Lisa Bunker. "It's one more way, as a local community media organization, that we strive to better serve the many communities within the reach of our signals."

Many people think that planned giving is a difficult process and only something that wealthy people can do. In reality, planned giving is easy to do and a great opportunity to leave a legacy for future generations. Planned giving, or gift planning, enables individuals to make larger gifts to nonprofits and charities than they normally could make from their income. Depending on the type of gift chosen, an individual may enjoy tax benefits, secure a lifetime income stream and provide additional income for heirs. These gifts, while planned now, help ensure that the voice of WMPG Community Radio will be alive and well for years to come.

There are a number of ways you can support the future of WMPG with a planned gift:

It is important to consult your attorney or estate specialist when making planned giving decisions.

Should you have questions regarding WMPG's planned giving options or wish to talk with someone at the station, please call Jim Rand, WMPG Station Manager at 207-780-4424 or e-mail stationmanager@wmpg.org.

We are honored to accept your planned gift and would like to know more about your future wishes, as they involve WMPG. If you have already included WMPG in your estate plans, please let us know. We would enjoy the opportunity to thank you and would like to make sure your intentions are carried out properly.

On Monday, October 20, WMPG Community Radio presented the 12th Annual Bluegrass Spectacular at One Longfellowsquare. Local Bluegrass legends, Tumbling Bones, The Grassholes, the Jerks of Grass performed. WMPG's Ceci Gilson, host of Thursday's "Kitchen Party" program was MC the evening.

Doors opened at 6 PM and the place quickly filled to near capacity! Thanks to everyone who came to the show and especially the bands who were stupendous!

All proceeds from the Bluegrass Spectacular benefited WMPG Community Radio. For more information contact Dale Robin Goodman at 207 780-4151 or development@wmpg.org.

WMPG volunteers have won three awards from the Maine Association of Broadcasters. Each year the MAB recognizes and honors the best work of Maine-based broadcasters through their annual News and Creative Awards. Entries come from both commercial and and non-commercial broadcasters, including Maine Public Broadcasting.

This year's winners from WMPG were:

Sam Bullock, WMPG news director, third place in the Feature category for her story about the USM Theater production of "In the Underworld".
Listen here.

Dr. Anne Hallward and Gabe Grabin, third place in the Public Affairs category for the weekly half-hour program "Safe Space," a show featuring courageous conversations about subjects that are difficult to talk about.
Safe Space Radio

Bill Audette, second place in the Locally Produced Program category, for his weekly old-time rock and roll music program "Night Train"
The Night Train Show

"WMPG could not be more proud of our volunteers," says station program director Lisa Bunker. "Awards like these prove that even though WMPG is a scrappy little neighborhood radio station with a tiny budget and staff, programmed almost entirely by students and volunteers, we routinely make radio as good as any radio out there."

On Friday morning, 9/12, USM Interim President David Flanagan visited the WMPG studios and spoke with long-time volunteer host Steve Hirshon about the challenges USM faces this year. The interview will air on WMPG this Monday morning, 9/15, from 8 to 8:30am, and is also available for download here.

One of the first things I noticed when I stepped into Board Chairman Adam Lee's office was the beautiful nature photography displayed on the walls. Turns out it's his work. But more about that later.

First, I was interested in finding out how a business partnership that started with a handful of used cars on consignment, and about $1,000, became a company with 14 new car franchises, 13 used car dealerships, and the highest volume car sales in all of Maine.

Lee Auto Malls has been family owned and operated for three generations. But as Adam Lee explained to me, more than 50 years of family work ethic is just part of the story. He credits the company's commitment to unparalleled customer service with much of the company's success.

Just how serious is Lee Auto Malls about customer service? To make sure that each customer's car-buying experience a positive one, there's an owner in every new car location. Every customer call and email is answered, personally. And owners and managers even share their email and cell numbers with customers.

Twenty-five years ago then WMPG Program Director Ed Noyes loved blues music. He loved it so much he created the WMPG Evenin' Sun program, MPG's flaghip blues show still heard six nights a week from 5-7pm. He also took his love of blues to another level, helping create the Southern Maine Blues Society. To make this love complete he opened his own nightclub called Morganfields which brought the best national blues acts to Portland. The club was located where the Asylum now sits. Morganfields was nationally known as a club to play at with it's wonderfull atmosphere, sound and local support.

Well here we are twenty-five years later and Morganfields has moved on but the blues lovers in the area are still enjoying the blues with the Evenin' Sun shows and the Southern Maine Blues Society is now known as just the Maine Blues Society. To celebrate these twenty-five years they are putting on a 25th Anniversary Celebration and everyone is invited.

The Maine Blues Society would like you to know that in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Maine Blues Society, they cordially invite you to attend an event to honor our founding members. We are excited to have been part of the American blues music scene for the past 25 years and wish to express our gratitude to those who put in the effort to create and foster a community here in Maine that continues to encourage a passion for The Blues as the one true American art form. Current and former members of our society, such as yourself, continue to support the proliferation and popularity of Blues music and we are going to celebrate those efforts on Sunday September 7th, 2014 beginning at 1pm at The Tailgate, 61 Portland Rd, Gray, ME.
There will be appetizers provided....
The Tailgate blues jam will follow...

WMPG in partnership with Local Sprouts Cooperative, presented a screening of an acclaimed social justice documentary Shadows of Liberty about corporate control of the mass media. All proceeds from ticket sales benefited WMPG.

In Shadows of Liberty filmmaker Jean-Philippe Tremblay explores the darker corridors of the American media landscape, where global conglomerates call the shots. In highly revealing stories, renowned journalists, activists and academics give insider accounts of a broken media system. Controversial news reports are suppressed, people are censored for speaking out, and lives are shattered as the arena for public expression is turned into a private profit zone. Tracing the story of media manipulation through the years, Shadows of Liberty poses a crucial question: why have we let a handful of powerful corporations write the news?

The film features the voices of Danny Glover, Julian Assange, Dan Rather, Amy Goodman, David Simon, Daniel Ellsberg, Norman Solomon, Dick Gregory, Robert McChesney, John Nichols, Chris Hedges and many more.

Thanks goes out to everyone who joined us on Tuesday May 20th for pizza or two at Flatbread Pizza on Commercial Street in Portland. Flatbread donated $3.50 to WMPG for each pizza ordered between 5-9pm! Yea! Thanks Flatbread Pizza for supporting WMPG and all the other non-profits you support as part of this project!

Another huge thanks goes out to everyone who came out and supported WMPG at our 10th Annual WMPG Fashion Show Benefit! It featured local fashion designers presenting their works in a fast-paced, high fashion setting with a hometown touch. It all took place at Port City Music Hall in Portland.

The WMPG Fashion Show features creations from local designers presented by local models. From casual to formal clothes, accessories and more all crafted by local artists. Wild and daring, or sweet and sassy, our local designer community never fails to dazzle the Fashion show audience.

WMPG Artistic Director Cindy Flanders put together an amazing show, MC Cat Smith kept the models moving in stunning fashion and Technical Director Pete "DJPJ" Paraskevas produced the best WMPG Fashion Show ever! Nothing would have happened with them!

All proceeds from the Fashion Show benefited WMPG Community Radio. For more information about WMPG's Fashion Show Benefit, contact Dale Robin Goodman at 207 780-4151 or development@wmpg.org or Cindy at Fashion@wmpg.org.

40 years ago Howard Allen was attending USM, then known as UMPG, and was instrumental in creating WMPG!Thanks Howard! On 4/23/14 we had a live broadcast event and community gathering to celebrate the station's 40th Birthday. Howard attended and was interviewed by longtime WMPG'er Jessica Lockhart.

The celebration started at 10am with an hour of special programming originating from the station's studios. Howard dropped in then and was one of many to stop by.

The broadcast then moved to the Woodbury Campus Center for three hours of live remote radio, featuring a variety of local musical acts in various genres including Samuel James, Sean Mencher, a live Radio Drama (facilitated by Fred Greenhalgh), Pete Witham, David Jacquet and friends, and WMPG DJ Ronda Dale.

The party also featured birthday cakes and a history of WMPG display including news clippings and photos from 1971 to present day! The party was sponsored by WMPG, Portland Student Life and USM's Tourism and Hospitality program. Students in the TAH 410 Event Promotions class worked all semester to create and implement a marketing plan for our 40th Anniversary celebration.

On Thursday, November 21st, WMPG broadcast USM Edtalks live from USM's Hannaford Hall.

This was a chance for the USM community to speak to a panel of Maine Senate and House Representatives about the rising cost of education, budget cuts and the future of public higher education in Maine. The forum was co-hosted by USM Student Government, The Free Press, WMPG, and the USM Executive Director of Student Life & Dean of Students. The moderator was Dr. Ron Schmidt, USM Associate Professor of Political Science.

We couldn't have asked for a better day last Saturday as the Southern Maine Record and CD collectors converged on USM's Sullivan Gym for the 18th annual WMPG CD and Record Sale! Dealers from all over New England set up shop along with WMPG's crew as this highly anticipated event took place. A huge thanks goes out to all the WMPG Volunteers who made this event possible! For the "record" this was one of our largest sales to date. We brought in over $7,400 in sales! Thanks espcially to everyone who donated all those CDs and records.

It is hard to believe but we are already thinking of next year's sale. If you have any old records and CDs that are taking up space? We need them. We are in need of records and CDs for next year's sale. Here is a great way to help out your friends at WMPG! - Donate your records and CDs to WMPG for the sale. If you have records, CDs or old turntables taking up space and you don't know what to do with we will take them. The sales from the event go to help WMPG obtain equipment and offset other fees.

Call (207) 780-4424 or e-mail the stationmanager@wmpg.org. Our crack team of drivers will quickly arrive at your house to clean away all those old records that are taking up space! We will then give you a receipt which can be used for a tax deduction! Thanks again for to everyone who already donated the records and CDs!

Printing assistance has been provided by our friends at CYBERCOPY located on Forest Avenue in Portland!

Rachel Talbot Ross is the State Director of the Maine NAACP, and President of the NAACP's Portland Branch. This morning, Ms. Talbot Ross visited the WMPG studios to participate an audio project being prepared for a MLK Day radio special.

She talked with WMPG Volunteer Reporter Lorenzo Raffa about today's response from Maine Governor Paul LePage to invitations from the Maine NAACP to attend events honoring Dr. Martin Luther King. If you would like to hear their conversation, Click here to listen.

Take whatever images your mind conjures up after hearing the phrase "stained glass" and smash'em.

Walking into Phoenix Glass Studio, one proceeds with the utmost delicacy; It's easy to feel like the bull in the china shop and to be intimidated by the beautiful glass pieces that compose the studio. But surprisingly, you'll be greeted by Sammy, a bulky and excitable Labrador - A bull in a china shop! You can feel completely at home.

Phoenix glass was established in 1976, and has survived many bulls in the forms of fires and vehicles. Their beautiful art, contemporary and hardy, has survived and is as striking as ever. Once in the Old Port, Phoenix studio is now settled in on 630 Forest Avenue, a lovely little hub with a plethora of windows (some newly discovered) perfect for their eclectic display.

We are proud to report that WMPG's own Blunt Youth Radio program was featured on the WCSH 207 program.

The Blunt Youth Radio Project produces a weekly call-in talk show that airs Monday nights from 7:30-8:30 on WMPG, Southern Maine Community Radio. High school age youth from the Portland area, both free and incarcerated, staff the show. Blunt Members are trained in all areas of radio production: interviewing, hosting, reporting, editing, and engineering. The show has won several Gold and Silver Reel Awards from the National Federation of Community Broadcasters and a number of First Place Radio News Awards from the Maine Association of Broadcasters.

Fred Greenhalgh, volunteer producer of the program Radio Drama Revival on WMPG, has won the Gold Ogle Award, an international audio drama award for Best Fantasy Audio Drama. He won it for "Waiting for a Window," a surreal tale of Norman, a sailor who finds himself stranded on a strange tropical island where no one ever seems to leave.
The half-hour drama was produced by Greenhalgh's Portland-based FinalRune Productions. It was recorded entirely on location in the Portland area -- at marinas, marshes, the beach, and an abandoned mill space in Biddeford. It debuted on WMPG, and features a talented local cast including Ed Patterson, Bill Dufris, and Philip Hobby.
Greenhalgh had the opportunity to personally receive the award in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the CONvergence festival.

The "Ogle" is named for Charles Ogle, who played the first Frankenstein's creation in Edison's silent 1910 film of the famous science fiction horror novel. The award celebrates the best fantasy/audio production of the year.
Greenhalgh's program can be heard each week on WMPG, Thursdsay afternoons from 1 to 1:30pm.

"There are a remarkable number of photographs of the Malaga Island community. Newspapers published several dozen photos over the years sometimes in a kind of newspaper photo-spread unusual for the time period. Photos were also taken for postcards. This postcard image was titled "The Deuce of Spades." In the picture is probably Annie Parker holding Pearl Tripp. Some contend this picture was posed purposefully in an animal pen. Photo Courtesy Maine Historic Preservation."

In 1912, the state of Maine evicted about forty-five people from Malaga Island off the coast of Phippsburg. The island residents were poor, black, white, and mixed race. The eviction is typically viewed as a shameful moment in the state's history. WMPG-FM, in collaboration with the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies, announces the premier of Malaga Island: A Story Best Left Untold, a radio and photo documentary recounting this infamous event and its impact on several generations of descendents.

Malaga Island: A Story Best Left Untold includes an hour-long radio program plus a gallery show featuring photographs, audio, and a panel discussion. The radio documentary aired on WMPG, February 26th. A gallery opening will took place at Salt.

"This is one of those stories where people say 'That happened in Maine?!' or 'The state did what?!' Then they say 'Tell me more,'" said Rob Rosenthal, radio producer for Malaga Island: A Story Best Left Untold....

How does a 32-year-old alt-rock/goth band get the fans
excited about a new album months in advance of the album’s release
date? Well, to prepare for the 13th album by 80s alt-rock/goth heroes
The Cure, 4:13 Dream, the 4-man band led by Robert Smith, released singles
on the 13th of each month leading up to the album’s initial release
date of September 13th. Each of these singles had non-album B-sides, which
have always been a Cure staple. However, the album got pushed back to
October 13th and was ultimately released on October 28th. After a remix
EP was released on September 13th to tide fans over, the album arrived
and is the first album since 1989’s Disintegration that, for the
most part, sounds like The Cure we used to know.

4:13 Dream opens up like several Cure albums past –
with a long track. In this case, it’s the song “Underneath
The Stars.” The song echoes back to Disintegration, by far the band’s
biggest album to date. First single “The Only One” also echoes
back of Cure days past, to songs like 1985’s “In Between Days,”
1987’s “Just Like Heaven” and 1992’s “High.”
It’s refreshing considering how awful 2004’s self-titled album
was. There was maybe one good song on the whole thing. It’s nice
to see Robert Smith and Co. going back to basics.

The album does, I feel, take a couple of missteps in
the songs “The Real Snow White” and former single “Freakshow.”
These songs sound like the more recent Cure offerings and they don’t
feel like they belong in any album. They just seem out of sorts compared
to all of the other great cuts. Other highlights on 4:13 Dream include
the sweet but short “Sirensong”; one of the singles and my
favorite song on the album, “The Perfect Boy”; the simple
but lovely “This, Here And Now, With You”; and, “Sleep
When I’m Dead,” which sounded to me at first like an older
Cure song – and now I know why. Upon further reading, “Sleep
When I’m Dead” is actually a song that was originally written
for the 1985 album The Head On The Door.

Do I think like The Cure are headed back in the right
direction? Yeah, I do. 4:13 Dream is the first studio album that reunites
original member Porl Thompson with the band since 1992’s Wish. And,
strangely enough, in Spain, where the Cure have never had much success,
the first three singles off the album have all gone to #1, with “The
Perfect Boy” reaching #2. This album makes me look forward to their
next effort, so I can applaud that one as well, because I believe the
Dream is real – that The Cure can (and will) still make some truly
good music.

Next time you bring back bottles and cans you can help support your favorite local community radio station...And you don't even have to get dirty! CLYNK, a new local redemption program, will let you turn in a bag of bottles and/or cans at any participating Hannaford and will credit it to WMPG. There are special bags, which you can pick up here at WMPG, that have a barcode. Want us to mail you a few of them - no problem! Shoot us an e-mail to WMPG Station Manager. When you fill them up and drop them off the barcode will credit your (5 and 15 cent) returns to us! It's that easy.

For more than ten years WMPG DJ's had Phil Hersey to thank for keeping all the equipment up and running. Phil's favorite time at WMPG was either late at night repairing equipment or when a band was playing and he was the engineer. Phil was the WMPG Technical Director and engineer for our Local Motives program, the program dedicated to live local music. If you were in a local band around here for the last decade, chance are Phil made you sound good. He was an institution within the local music scene. Phil passed away in 2004 and last year WMPG DJ Lars Lindgren completed this monument to him. If you want to hear some of Phil's work just call one of our DJs and ask for some local music. We have more than 500 recordings in our library which he mastered. We miss ya Phil but are happy that your passion and love for live music has lived on here at WMPG!

Have you ever wondered what WMPG's music library looked like or perhaps the on-air studio? If yes, then here it is, we recently took out our digital camera and took a walking tour. Take a look at our 67,000 cds and 30,000 lps! Check out our new audio console compliments of the Maine Association of Broadcasters. Meet a few of the people that keep WMPG running! Thanks to Stephanie Sample for the creative editing of the video.